Mourinho has gradually started United's maintenance at full-back through luck and judgement. Luke Shaw is maybe the sole beneficiary of the split transfer strategy and injury has denied Diogo Dalot from building on the momentum of his auspicious debut in Bern. The phasing out of Antonio Valencia has possibly begun and Matteo Darmian has not played since the Premier League opener against Leicester on August 1.

But, as Mourinho emphasised to Ed Woodward, the central defence is the pressing priority. Eric Bailly has played 21 minutes since the Brighton debacle in August and Newcastle scored two in 19 of them before the Ivorian was withdrawn. Phil Jones is brittle and the breakable Marcos Rojo has played in 107 United matches out of a possible 236. He has managed five club appearances this calendar year.

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United tried - and failed - to jettison Rojo and Darmian in the summer window and have to succeed next year when both will be 29. If Mourinho took umbrage at the timing of Paul Pogba's Instagram Story against Derby then he is unlikely to have approved of Darmian's wife's social media activity in a hospitality box against Juventus. Mourinho has dubbed Darmian his 'emergency player' and a 'fantastic guy', so may be inclined to bid him towards the exit in January. Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin were much more involved before their January moves 21 months ago.

Valencia, Darmian and Jones have entered the last year of their United contracts and the club has the option of an additional year on each deal. United will exercise that right should the trio remain beyond the winter window, possibly in order to obtain a possible fee in the summer.

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Mourinho hinted a 'surprise' player would emerge in the autumn two years ago and there were two in Rojo and Jones, who formed a rock-steady axis between November and January. Even if they were to rekindle that partnership, it would be premature to give them any leeway when that previous period proved to be a false dawn.

Come the summer, Jones - 194 United appearances out of a possible 399 - will have stayed at the club for as long as Nemanja Vidic. According to Physioroom, Jones, 26, has succumbed to 40 separate injuries and ailments while Rojo has spent 572 days of his Old Trafford career injured.

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Manchester United - key information

Few opponents get past Valencia but he rarely gets past an opponent and the 33-year-old's durability has become problematic over the last 20 months. He enjoyed a new lease of life in Mourinho's first season and was unfortunate not to earn the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year statue yet has regressed in 2018. United are open to signing a specialist left-back to redress their balance at full-back now Ashley Young has ousted Valencia on the right.

Doubts linger over Victor Lindelof, who ranges from capable to calamitous. United are unlikely to ever challenge for the championship with Chris Smalling as a starter and Bailly has encountered his own issues with Mourinho since he withdrew from the West Brom squad in April. Toby Alderweireld is an essential January target after Woodward deemed him inessential in the summer.

Time to go: Rojo joined United in 2014 and Valencia arrived in 2009

United have to operate within realistic parameters but idealism should not be discouraged. Axel Tuanzebe, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Demetri Mitchell return from loans next year and have to be factored into United's planning as they attempt to master that blend of 'world-class purchased talent with our continued development of top academy graduates', as Woodward put it last month.